Chochinya

Another excellent place to stay. Big clean room. Private toilet. Great great bath. Helpful and lovely staff. Another delicious dinner. High praise and recommend highly. On the henro trail. Just lovely. Also full shop for all things henro. Laundry requires coins. Beer available in vending machines. Stay here and be happy.

20/10/2019

A cross between a large hotel and a ryokan, very conveniently located across the street from Joururiji. It appears to have been built in three sections. A large original section facing the road, on the north of the site. A second small section containing the reception area, also faces the road, to the south of the first section. And finally a third, likely newer, auxiliary building behind the first section. The first and second sections adjoin to form the main building. The auxiliary building is accessed at a couple of levels from the main by a roofed stair case between the two. Clearly constructed to capture the Ohenro trade.

Rooms: The rooms are tatami types in the Japanese style except they have private bathrooms. The combination of a tatami room with a private bathroom*, I found unusual. The best of both hotel and ryokan. I don't believe there are any western style rooms in the establishment. My room was on the second floor in the auxiliary building, 6380 yen for one night and meals. The room was certainly clean and spacious for one person, leading me to think this was a new section. It had airconditioning and a view out to the surrounding rural area. There was a small table with kettle and snacks, which is typical for ryokans. (* I was amused that the toilet controls were remote, what mischief could be had with that!)

Food: Standard Japanese ryokan fare. There is large communal dining area. When I was there, only a few places were taken and named places were set for each guest. It could easily handle over 100 people, two or three bus loads, though I think it would be little crammed at that stage.

Other: The ryokan has a very extensive shop for Ohenro paraphernalia. There is a good laundry for guest use. It is notionally free, but purchase of a packet of soap powder cost 100 yen.

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After walking down from Kumakougen my day ended at Joururiji. It was late afternoon and for a very short time I was the only one in the temple grounds. Then a trickle of Henro started to arrive, some by car and two or three by walking. Then came the flood as a bus parked outside. I wandered around the small garden at the back of the temple grounds, then left to walk across the road to my accommodation for the night. As I crossed the road I said hello to the bus driver and his offsider. The offsider compared me, not for the first time on this walk, to Santa Claus. We all had a bit of a chuckle and the bus driver ducked inside the bus and brought out a small ossettai bun for me.

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